Person:John Cullen (4)

From the look of things.....John Cullen may have been James Shearer's worst nightmare for a son in law.In John's defense though.... if Jessie Cullen was in fact Jessie Shearer, it is possible that James might have been a little more interfering....and hard to please John Cullen appears to have abandoned Isabella in about 1893. His grandson reports that John's reported death did not have a really big impact on any of his family members.... According to Alex, they found out he'd died in the morning and celebrated with a party that night! Supposedly, he was in the United States for a few years and then went off to seek his fortune in a gold rush.It is interesting to note that the Alaska Gold Rush occurred in this time frame. At some point in time, his belongings(but no body) was found and his disappearance/death was reported to the family.Exactly where he was at the time is unknown and there is no documentation regarding his disappearance.It is interesting to note though that his name and the date 1901 appears on Isabella's headstone. To ensure that he was not buried there, I checked the interment records. It seems John's spot is being used by his daughter Jane. The likelihood is that John's final whereabouts will never be known.

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3} Ada Jane Shearer and The Shearer Historians. Shearer Family History. (Created in Elma Township in 1938 and maintained by Shearer Reunion Historians. Information was reported by knowledgeable family members and was well maintained in the early years.).
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3} Isa Cleland. Information that Isa researched on the Shearers. (This information was gathered by Isa until her death in 1999. Most is copied from the Shearer Family Tree.).
3. ↑ The 1881 census states that he was born in 1853 in Ontario.
4. ↑ John Cullen is not actually buried in Fairview Cemetery although there is a cemetery marker in Listowel that gives 1850-1901 as his dates.A search of Fairview Cemetery records reveals that he is not buried in the plot and that all burial spots are taken. There are persistent rumours that John Cullen abandoned Isabella when their youngest child, James Shearer Cullen, was a toddler. According to these rumours, he disappeared when James S. Cullen was 2 or 3 years old and nothing was ever heard from him. Supposedly, he was in the United States for a few years and then had gone on a gold rush. A letter was received by the family that stated that his identification had been found, but that he was missing and was therefore presumed dead. A search of the death records for all of Ontario from 1901-1905 show no deaths for a John Cullen.... I speculate that this story was probably accurate, and that he is buried somewhere in (or on the way to) Alaska....